Teacher benefits, once a sleepy question primarily of interest to actuaries, have become a flash point in the education debate. With individual states on the hook for tens or hundreds of millions in unfunded pension and health insurance obligations, state leaders are trying to determine the severity of the situation and the appropriate response.…

School business officials should attend workshops and seminars to help them plan for retirement. When approaching retirement, SBOs should invest for low-risk growth, determine retirement goals, match insurance with needs, and decide when to stop full-time work. Retirees should invest for growth and income, withdraw assets at the right time, and…

Although even a few years ago researchers were suggesting that faculty aging and the resulting retirements would result in a huge demand for new hires, job opportunities have become scarce for recent graduates of doctoral programs. It is important, however, that colleges be able to hire new personnel to bring new ideas into the institution. In…

A policy statement on retirement and insurance plans formulated by the American Association of University Professors and the Association of American Colleges is presented. Retirement plans are seen to attract individuals, permit them to devote their energies to the profession, and to provide for an orderly retirement. (MLW)

The federal legislative agenda must focus on three trends: (1) the rise in health care costs; (2) the serious decline in the personal savings rate and the effect on pensions; and (3) the lengthening period of retirement as a combination of early retirement and longer life spans. (SK)

Presents guidelines for colleges on selecting employee health insurance carriers and retirement investment programs. Reviews types of insurance programs, presenting examples from several states. Discusses mechanisms for reducing insurance premiums, including claim reduction, self-funding, mail-order pharmaceuticals, and forming consortia with…

Early retirement incentive programs are discussed as a humanitarian way of reducing payroll costs and rewarding long-tenured employees. The incentives to be considered, program communication, and problems found in incentive programs are addressed. (Author/MLF)

Includes "Introduction" (Hanratty, Mitchell); "Health Insurance and Job Mobility" (Monheit and Cooper; Gruber and Madrian); "Effect of Access to Post-Retirement Health Insurance (HI) on Decision to Retire Early" (Karoly, Rogowski); "Employer-Provided HI and Retirement Behavior" (Gustman, Steinmeier);…

The Commission on College Retirement was formed to review the role and functioning of college and university retirement programs and make recommendations for program improvements. This volume brings together five separate reports issued by the commission. "Retirement Ages for College and University Personnel" addresses the issues of…

This article explains why college faculty benefit by taking large portions of their compensation in fringe benefits, presents data showing trends in the provision of fringe benefits to college and university employees, and suggests that academic supply and demand conditions during the 1990s may lead to resumption of the upward trend in…

Assesses the common practice of allowing retiring employees to continue receiving group insurance benefits and suggests that before agreeing to this arrangement, administrators should consider the situation carefully and plan for the potential long-range consequences. (Author/WD)

This document contains two papers on connections between work and health and policy options for improving the health of working families. "Foreword" (James A. Auerbach) places the two papers in the context of recent research on the connections between work, family, and health. Chapter 1's overview addresses the changing nature of work,…

This publication addresses 10 "front-burner" public policy issues in higher education for 1994 which were identified and discussed by higher education policy experts in two meetings during the fall of 1993. A single page at the beginning of the document presents all 10 issues in a format designed for easy photocopying or overhead projector…

Issues concerning college faculty/staff retirement and coping with changes in lifestyle are discussed, including financial planning, psychological adjustment, relocating vs. maintaining current housing, planning for travel, health care, health and life insurance needs, maintenance of an acceptable standard of living, protecting resources against…